Method for Supervising Task-Based Data Processing

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a method for supervising a task-based data processing, wherein for a plurality of tasks the following steps are performed for each task: scheduling the task for processing, and logging the scheduling of the task by storing a task identifier in a log memory, said task identifier identifying the scheduled task and being assigned to the scheduled task. The task identifiers stored in the log memory form a task history pattern of scheduled tasks. By means of the task history a pattern may be detected for determining whether a failure appears in the task-based data processing. At least one safety measure is taken when a failure is detected.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/477,509, filed May 5, 2004 pending, which was the National Stage of International Application No. PCT/EP02/05289, filed May 14, 2002, which claims the benefit of European Patent No. 01111705.8, filed May 14, 2001, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Computer operation systems, in particular real time operation systems RTOS are known which provide a task-based data processing. A task is a work element of a computer processing job. A task can represent a single activity to be processed by a processor of a computer or computer system, or it can be a process comprising a plurality of sub-processes to be processed in the computer or computer system. A task can therefore be called a thread or a process as well.

In order to be processed, tasks are scheduled by the operation system. The term ‘scheduling a task’ as used in the following comprises the meaning of ‘calling for direct processing’ as well as ‘planning a task for processing’, e.g. by means of a queue or a task list. In the latter case the task might have to wait for the processing until other tasks being scheduled for earlier processing, e.g. due to their higher priority, are processed. In the latter case is it furthermore possible to re-schedule a task, i.e. to arrange an already scheduled task for an earlier or later processing.

In particular real time systems provide for a task supervision, i.e. a monitoring of the scheduled tasks, in order to detect failures. A known task supervision in existing systems is done by means of a high prioritised supervising task. Messages, called supervision messages, are sent from supervised tasks to the supervising task. The supervising task monitors dedicated timeouts for expected supervision messages. In the case of a timeout knows the supervising task that something has gone wrong and can take appropriate actions.

Common supervisor hierarchies are illustrate in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. FIG. 1 shows a central supervisor SV 100 monitoring the tasks ‘task 1’ 110, ‘task 2’ 120 to ‘task n’ 130. FIG. 2 shows a supervision tree comprising at the root a supervisor SV 200 connected to medium layered supervisors SV1 210, SV2 220 and SV3 230. The tasks ‘task 1’ 240, ‘task2’ 250 and ‘task 3’ 260 send their supervision messages to the supervisor SV1 210. Supervisor SV2 220 receives supervision messages from ‘task 4’ 270 and ‘task 5’, and supervisor SV3 230 gets supervision messages from ‘task6’ 290 to ‘task n’ 295. Any medium layered supervisor 210, 220, 230 sends supervision messages to the root supervision SV 200.

Tasks can have different priorities. Often, the scheduling is done in real-time systems according priorities only, in order to meet the real-time requirements.

Usually, a monitoring of the task scheduling is necessary because several problems can appear: A task can become unavailable to the system due to a crash of this task. A task can become unavailable to the system due to an endless loop in it. A task can become unavailable to the system due to a dead lock, i.e. a blocking situation that can e.g. appear during a competition of tasks for a limited system resource. Tasks can become unavailable to the system due to a life lock. A life lock is either an endless loop of one task, or a communication between two or more tasks in a faulty, infinite way. By this other tasks are unable to get processed by the processor (CPU). Or, the faulty tasks miss to trigger other tasks, so these other tasks will not be executed anymore.

Low prioritised tasks can become unavailable to the system due overload caused by one or several better prioritised others. This might happen actually due to shortcomings in the design of the task processing system, because in a proper design will a task not prevent other important, but lower prioritised tasks from being executed, even under overload situations.

Usually not all tasks in a system are part of the application. Instead, some are part of a system's platform. Usually, the source code of such platform tasks cannot be changed.

With supervision messages it is hard to find out what exactly went wrong in the case of failure, i.e. which task or tasks failed. If tasks become unavailable due to a life lock or overload as described, a supervisor monitoring the task scheduling by means of supervision messages can detect only that one of the worse prioritised tasks are dead, but cannot determine that there is a life lock or overload, although it is important for the supervisor to detect what went wrong, in order to start appropriate actions to solve the problem.

As a further disadvantage, it is impossible to include platform tasks in a supervision hierarchy as described with reference to the FIGS. 1 and 2, unless the platform offers certain interfaces, which might cause extra costs or which might in particular in security-related systems not be wanted.

Takashi et al (“Trace visualization and analysis, tool for supervisory control systems”, Systems, Man and Cybernetics, 2000 IEEE International Conference, ISBN 0-7803-6583-6, p. 1198-1203) refer to a task-based visualisation and analysis tool for supervisory control systems. Event patterns are identified, which appear in traces repeatedly such as periodic events. An identified event pattern is represented in a visualized trace diagram by means of an assigned phrase instead of the plurality of events that build the pattern. A corresponding visualization of traces provides a reduced amount of information displayed to a supervising user.

Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a method, device and computer program for improved task supervision in a task-based data processing system.

SUMMARY

This object is solved by the teaching of the independent claims.

The invention relates to a method for supervising a task-based data processing, wherein for a plurality of tasks the following steps are performed for each task: scheduling the task for processing, and logging the scheduling of the task by storing a task identifier in a log memory, said task identifier identifying the scheduled task and being assigned to the scheduled task. The task identifiers stored in the log memory form a task history pattern of scheduled tasks. By means of the task history pattern it is evaluated, whether a failure appears in the task-based data processing. At least one safety measure is taken when the evaluation indicates a failure.

In a further aspect relates the invention to a network element of a communication network adapted to perform the described method for supervising a task-based data processing.

In another aspect relates the invention to a communications network comprising at least one network node adapted to perform the described method for supervising a task-based data processing.

In another aspect relates the invention to a computer program, in particular a computer operation system, comprising software code portions loadable into an internal memory of a digital processing unit and adapted to control the steps the described method for supervising a task-based data processing, when the computer program is executed on the digital processing unit.

Advantageously, the invention allows for a detection of life locks and overloaded tasks. Furthermore, the invention allows the detection, whether a single task is in an endless loop.

It is furthermore an advantage that the design is simple and therefore reliable, because the supervision can be handled by a single supervisor task. In addition, only a task scheduler needs to provide information about scheduled tasks. High volumes of signalling traffic, e.g. caused by supervising messages, are avoided. In addition, the supervised tasks do not need to be changed in order to apply to the invention.

Further preferred embodiments of the invention are described in the dependent claims.

In a preferred embodiment comprises the task identifier at least one dedicated parameter of the scheduled task. Advantageously, the scheduler can include any available information relevant for the task supervision into the parameter. The task supervision system can therefore use available information about tasks efficiently.

In a further embodiment is the at least one dedicated parameter one of a group comprising a task priority, a required processing time, a consumed processing time, a processing deadline, a task type indicator. Advantageously, the listed parameters allow for a differentiated and detailed task supervision in particular for real-time systems, as they reflect time constraints that can be critical during task processing.

In a further embodiment comprises the step of evaluating the step of comparing the task history pattern with at least one predefined criterion. Advantageously, the use of predefined criteria allow for an adaptation of the task supervision to individual needs of an application.

In another embodiment is the at least one predefined criterion from a group of criteria, said group comprising

-   -   the criterion that a dedicated task identifier does not appear         in the task history,     -   the criterion that a plurality of dedicated task identifiers do         not appear in the task history,     -   the criterion that a number of scheduled tasks is lower than a         first threshold,     -   the criterion that a number of scheduled tasks is higher than a         second threshold,     -   the criterion that the number of schedulings of a dedicated task         is higher than a third threshold,     -   the criterion that the number of schedulings of a dedicated task         is higher than a fourth threshold,     -   the criterion that the number of schedulings of a plurality of         dedicated tasks is higher than a fifth threshold, and     -   any combination criteria of the group of criteria.

Advantageously, the criteria of the group reflect failure scenarios, which are useful to be detected by the task supervision.

In another embodiment of the invention represents a predefined criterion a reference pattern, and a failure is determined if the task history pattern and the reference pattern match.

A reference pattern is to be understood as a set of conditions, which are checked against the task history pattern. In an alternative embodiment, the task history pattern and the reference pattern are represented by bit pattern, which can be easily, fast and effective compared and evaluated by corresponding bit-operations, e.g. by means of an XOR-function.

The failure detection in the case of a pattern match provides an effective task supervision, if the reference pattern consists of critical conditions, and if the number of available critical scenarios, i.e. indicating a failure, is lower than the number of healthy scenarios, i.e. not indicating a failure.

In another embodiment represents the predefined criterion a reference pattern, and a failure is determined if the task history pattern and the reference pattern mismatch.

The failure detection in the case of a pattern mismatch provides an effective task supervision, if the reference pattern consists of uncritical conditions, and if the number of available critical scenarios, i.e. indicating a failure, is higher than the number of healthy scenarios, i.e., not indicating a failure.

A further embodiment comprises the reference pattern which comprises at least one of a group of

-   -   at least one task identifier of a task which is to be         supervised,     -   at least one priority information about at least one task to be         supervised,     -   at least one idle pattern,     -   at least one healthy load pattern.

In a further embodiment comprises the safety measure the release of an alarm.

In a further embodiment is at least one reference measure assigned to the at least one predefined criterion, and the at least one taken safety measure corresponds to the at least one reference measure that is assigned to the predefined criterion which caused the detection of the failure. An immediate action against a failure is supported by the linking of the failure condition and countermeasure.

In a further embodiment is the step of detecting repeatedly performed, and the log memory is cleared at least after one performed step of detection. This allows retaining the needed memory space in reasonable limits.

In another embodiment is the scheduling of the task performed by means of a call back function. This allows for an easy and reliable handover of the task identifier and relevant task parameters for the purpose of being logged in the log memory.

In another embodiment relates the invention to a computer program that is stored on a computer-readable medium.

In the following are detailed embodiments of the invention described with reference to the figures, which show:

FIG. 1 a known supervisor hierarchy,

FIG. 2 a further known supervisor hierarchy,

FIG. 3 an illustration of the task supervision,

FIG. 4 a task history pattern indicating a faulty scenario,

FIG. 5 a task history scenario indicating a healthy scenario.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

According to the invention a scheduler of a task-based software system logs the tasks to be activated, i.e. the scheduled tasks, in a log memory. Alternatively or in addition, the scheduler can also log tasks which are deactivated, or which are re-scheduled. A high-prioritised supervisor task regularly evaluates the pattern stored in this log. Evaluation means are used to compare the pattern against predefined criteria, which indicate a certain fault.

Criteria are:

-   -   one or more tasks do not appear in the pattern,     -   the number of schedulings is much lower than expected; this can         be measured by means of a certain threshold,     -   the number of schedulings is much higher than expected, this can         be measured by means of another certain threshold,     -   one or more tasks are scheduled more often than expected; this         can be measured by means of one or more further certain         thresholds.

The listed criteria can be combined in any way to define the conditions, under which the task supervision shall indicate a failure.

Real time operating systems (RTOS) provide a ‘call back’ function performed from the scheduler. By this it is possible that an application function is called by the scheduler during every scheduling cycle. According to the invention, this function can be used to pass parameters like task identifiers or task names of tasks scheduled by the scheduler as parameters to an application function. The called application function logs the passed task scheduling information to a memory position. Therefore, from that memory can a task history, also called task history pattern, be red by the supervisor.

These steps of the task supervision are shown in FIG. 3.

The supervisor can do the following actions upon the task history:

-   -   Reading and evaluating it,     -   Logging and/or printing it out if something is detected by the         evaluation as faulty or suspicious,     -   Clearing the history, preferably after each supervision check to         support an effective use of the memory.

In the described example the supervisor task knows the following: the tasks to supervise and their corresponding task identifiers, the priorities of the tasks, an idle pattern defined by a number of schedulings and by the identifiers of the tasks involved in the idle mode, and a healthy load pattern defined by a number of schedulings and by the identifiers of the tasks involved in the non-critical healthy mode.

With Reference to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 is an example described of how the supervisor task detects a task in an endless loop. The example is based on the following assumptions: four tasks are to be supervised, The first task has the task identifier ‘1’, the second task the task identifier ‘2’ etc. Task 1 has the highest priority, followed by task 2. Task 3 has a worse priority than task 2, and task 4 has the worst priority. There is an idle scenario where only task 3 and task 4 are running; with about 200 expected schedulings/sec. A healthy load scenario has about 1000 expected schedulings/sec. All 4 tasks get scheduled in a healthy load scenario.

FIG. 4 shows a faulty scenario. The supervisor finds out just by evaluating the number of tasks that have been scheduled and logged in the task history pattern (i.e. 150 entries in the history) that something is going wrong. It can even point out, what is going on, because task 3 and task 4 are missing completely. This indicates that task 2 is in an endless loop, just interrupted by the higher prioritised task 1. Alternatively, task 1 and task 2 can have ended up in a life lock. The supervisior therefore can trigger a safety measure to overcome the faulty task processing, e.g. by means of a restart of task 2.

A corresponding healthy scenario is shown in FIG. 5, wherein the task history pattern comprises of a random distribution, on other words a chaotic collection, of the task identifiers ‘1’ to ‘4’. There are 897 schedulings logged. A comparison with the criteria outlined for a healthy pattern confirms a regular operation of the task-based data processing.

In one embodiment the invention is realised by software. In a further preferred embodiment the computer program is stored on a computer readable medium like a CD-ROM, a floppy disc, optical disc or hard disk. Therefore, a good physical portability of the control software is provided, i.e. upgrades can be performed in an easy way.

In another embodiment the method according to the present invention is performed by a network element of a communication system, e.g. a Mobile Switching Center, MSC, a packet MSC, a SGSN or a Home Location register.

In one embodiment the invention refers to a data processing method having the steps of logging tasks to be activated or deactivated by a scheduler, evaluating pattern in the task log by comparing the logged pattern against predefined criteria, indicating a fault if the evaluation results in a pattern mismatch.

Without being limited to, the invention can be used preferably in all communications systems as defined by 3GPP in the release 99 as well as in all future releases thereof. In particular, this includes PDC and PPDC as well as UMTS networks, core networks, GSM networks and the corresponding user equipment. 

1. In a data processing system, a method for supervising tasks, comprising the steps of: scheduling the tasks for processing; logging a task schedule by storing task identifiers in a log memory, said task identifiers identifying scheduled tasks and being assigned to the scheduled tasks, wherein the task identifiers stored in the log memory form a task history pattern of scheduled tasks; a supervisor task evaluating a pattern of the task history, for determining whether a failure appears in the task-based data processing; and taking at least one safety measure when the evaluation indicates a failure.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein a task identifier comprises at least one dedicated parameter of the scheduled task.
 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the at least one dedicated parameter is one of a group comprising a task priority, a required processing time, a consumed processing time, a processing deadline, a task type indicator.
 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of evaluating comprises the step of comparing the task history pattern with at least one predefined criterion.
 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the at least one predefined criterion is from a group of criteria, said group comprising: a dedicated task identifier does not appear in the task history; a plurality of dedicated task identifiers does not appear in the task history; a number of scheduled tasks is lower than a first threshold; the number of scheduled tasks is higher than a second threshold; a number of dedicated task scheduling is higher than a third threshold; the number of dedicated task scheduling is higher than a fourth threshold; a number of a plurality of dedicated task scheduling is higher than a fifth threshold; and any combination criteria of the group of criteria.
 6. The method according to claim 4, wherein a predefined criterion represents a reference pattern, and a failure is determined if the task history pattern matches the reference pattern.
 7. The method according to claim 4, wherein the predefined criterion represents a reference pattern, and a failure is determined if the task history pattern does not match the reference pattern.
 8. The method according to claim 6, wherein the reference pattern comprises: an identifier of a task which is to be supervised; priority information about at least one task to be supervised; an idle pattern; and a healthy load pattern.
 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one safety measure comprises activation of an alarm.
 10. The method according to claim 4, wherein a reference measure is assigned to the predefined criterion, and the safety measure corresponds to the reference measure that is assigned to the predefined criterion which caused the detection of the failure.
 11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of detecting is repeatedly performed, and the log memory is cleared after one performed step of detection.
 12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the scheduling of the task is performed by means of a call back function.
 13. In a communication network, a network element for supervising tasks comprising: means for scheduling the tasks for processing; means for storing task identifiers in a log memory, said task identifiers identifying scheduled tasks and being assigned to the corresponding scheduled tasks, wherein the task identifiers stored in the log memory form a history pattern of scheduled tasks; a supervisor task for evaluating the history pattern for a failure occurrence; and means for taking at least one safety measure when a failure occurrence is indicated.
 14. The network element according to claim 13, wherein a task identifier comprises at least one dedicated parameter of the scheduled task.
 15. The network element according to claim 14, wherein the at least one dedicated parameter is one of a group comprising a task priority, a required processing time, a consumed processing time, a processing deadline, and a task type indicator.
 16. The network element according to claim 13, wherein the means for evaluating comprises means for comparing the task history pattern with a predefined criterion.
 17. The network element according to claim 16, wherein the predefined criterion is from a group of criteria, said group of criteria comprising: a dedicated task identifier does not appear in the task history; a plurality of dedicated task identifiers does not appear in the task history; a number of scheduled tasks is lower than a first threshold; a number of scheduled tasks is higher than a second threshold; a number of dedicated task scheduling is higher than a third threshold; the number of dedicated task scheduling is higher than a fourth threshold; a number of a plurality of dedicated task scheduling is higher than a fifth threshold; and any combination from the group of criteria.
 18. The network element according to claim 16, wherein a predefined criterion represents a reference pattern, and a failure is determined if the task history pattern matches the reference pattern.
 19. The network element according to claim 16, wherein a predefined criterion represents a reference pattern, and a failure is determined if the task history pattern does not match the reference pattern.
 20. The network element according to claim 19, wherein the reference pattern comprises; a task identifier of a task which is to be supervised; priority information about at least one task to be supervised; an idle pattern; and a healthy load pattern.
 21. The network element according to claim 13, wherein the at least one safety measure comprises activation of an alarm.
 22. The network element according to claim 16, wherein a reference measure is assigned to the predefined criterion, and the at least one safety measure corresponds to the reference measure that is assigned to the predefined criterion which caused the detection of the failure.
 23. The network element according to claim 13, wherein the means for detecting is repeatedly performed, the log memory being cleared after one performed step of detection.
 24. The network element according to claim 13, wherein the scheduling of the task is performed by means of a call back function. 